Narym Exile

a place of political exile in tsarist Russia in the northern part of Tomsk Province in the Narym territory. It was established in the 18th century.

Several of the Decembrists and many participants in the Polish Uprising of 1863–64 served their sentences in the Narym Exile. Banishments began on a massive scale after the Revolution of 1905–07. During the spring of 1911, an illegal organization of Narym Bolsheviks, made up of about 30 persons, was formed. Led by Ia. M. Sverdlov, who was there during 1911–12, and V. V. Kuibyshev, who was there from 1910 to 1912, organizing activity was carried on within such legal organizations of political exiles as the consumers’ society, library, and theater. In this fashion, political study groups were set up. By 1915, Bolsheviks constituted more than half the exiles. During the February Revolution of 1917, the Narym Bolsheviks took part in the work of the Tomsk and Novonikolaevsk organizations of the RSDLP. In February 1917, the Narym Exile was abolished.